The Day the Lusitania Died

The single most shocking act of the First World War, the destruction of the Lusitania by the German submarine U-20 outraged the world. A century later, a shroud of mystery still clings to the afternoon of May 7, 1915, as somehow U-20 and the Lusitania came to be in the same spot off the south Irish coast at the same moment, and single torpedo sent the 44,000-ton liner to the bottom of the sea in less than twenty minutes, killing 1,198 passengers and crew. The Day the Lusitania Died tells the story of a great ship that made history from the day her keel was laid, but is remembered more for her loss than her life. The story of the destruction of the Lusitania unfolds on many levels. Not only is there the terrible human drama of those incredible eighteen minutes when the Lusitania sank to the bottom of the Celtic Sea, but also the tale of how U-20 came to be sitting astride the great liner’s course that May afternoon. There is the story of how the submarine became Germany’s decisive weapon in her naval war against Great Britain – but in a way the German government never imagined or desired. Present are admirals and sailors, diplomats and cabinet ministers, Presidents, kings, and kaisers, all of whom played a part in the convoluted dance which led to the sinking of the Lusitania. And not least of all, there is the enduring legacy of how those eighteen terrible minutes erased the distinction between civilian and soldier, and forever changed the face of warfare.